NIce! After reading Ford Fender's (Tim Lockhart) new book on stillwater, he said he uses a Simi Seal leech about 95% of the time on stillwater. I have since been tying up a bunch of Simi Seal Leeches! Rick

I usually do these with marabou tails . . .as the black one on the far left has. But I'm on a bit of a quest to find the simplest, most effective patterns for stillwater trout. If that means skip the marabou and just tie in a folded clump of dubbing for the tail, all the better. These are in the <5min category to tie.

P.S. for the guys that went to the Rocky Ford freezeout on 12/29, the leech on the far left accounted for about 6 fish that morning.

+1 on the SimiSeal. Islander turned me on to that material last fall and I ordered a 12 pack of various colors to see which one eventually works the best. I used a simi level leech on a local zipper lips lake in the fall and scored quite a number of cookie cutter 16" rainbows. And at Big Meadow right at the end of the season I was catching fish constantly until I broke off the last simi I had with me that day. That won't happen this year as I am well stocked now.

I'm a big fan of simi seal, and I really like your ties! I've experimented briefly with your concept (keep it simple, stupid!), but I haven't stuck with the all-dubbing fly. I usually use marabou as well, but I never thought of tying a clump of dubbing at the tail.It looks great!

I was about to tie up some dubbing leeches, using some flashabou as the dubbing loop material. I lost the flies I had tied up this way before, but a size 8-10 3xl with a beadhead helped me into a number of 16-20" fish at Pass Lake a couple winters ago.

Nice! I tied up a bunch of simiseal leeches in the Canadian black color for a friend as payment for taking me out in his boat, but have yet to use any myself. I have had success on some similar style leeches tied with cream and chocolate colored alpaca though.

I have moved to dubbing tails for quite a few of my buggers. one thing I do not like about marabou is how needle thing it gets, in rivers I think the current helps move the marabou better but in still waters it just goes down to a needle size behind the fly. when trolling I want something that stays it's profile when a large fish is following. when I take a bugger out of the water that is tied with marabou the tail is so thin it looks odd next to the body of a bugger. with longer dubbings and all the flash they can put in the dubbing they make great tails that somewhat keep there profile when wet.

Even when stripped back I don't think marabou actually fans back out with every strip! it just sticks to itself and stays that way when wet. dubbing tails keep the profile I want and move when stripped but fan back out at every strip - or at least are more prone to fan back out as they say marabou does.

I always try and tie my flies as how they look wet - not dry, and what the fish see not what I see! those ties are great trout and I love semi seal dubbing, wrapped and brushed back it rocks for buggers bodies and as you can see it makes great tails also.

Gary - I used four colors; from L to R you are looking at black-peacock, blood red, and dirty olive w/ pumpkin orange tails.

Next time I'm in a shop that carries AZ simiseal I'll pick out some more that catch my eye. Stalcup sparkle leech is out of production but has slightly softer/finer fibers that are just a tad longer than simiseal with a little less flash. I found a bunch of it in a discount bin years ago.

I have moved to dubbing tails for quite a few of my buggers. one thing I do not like about marabou is how needle thing it gets, in rivers I think the current helps move the marabou better but in still waters it just goes down to a needle size behind the fly. when trolling I want something that stays it's profile when a large fish is following. when I take a bugger out of the water that is tied with marabou the tail is so thin it looks odd next to the body of a bugger. with longer dubbings and all the flash they can put in the dubbing they make great tails that somewhat keep there profile when wet.

Even when stripped back I don't think marabou actually fans back out with every strip! it just sticks to itself and stays that way when wet. dubbing tails keep the profile I want and move when stripped but fan back out at every strip - or at least are more prone to fan back out as they say marabou does.

I always try and tie my flies as how they look wet - not dry, and what the fish see not what I see! those ties are great trout and I love semi seal dubbing, wrapped and brushed back it rocks for buggers bodies and as you can see it makes great tails also.

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Mark - I'm looking forward to trying out the dubbing tail leeches. Great to hear from others that have had success!

I think the quality of the marabou makes a big difference for how it performs as tail material. I got some Jay Fair marabou a few years ago and it was a real eye opener. Big, bushy plumes with long, thick fibers. I strip it off the stem and tie it in - the colors are vivid - looks like a paintbrush in the water. Totally different material than regular strung 'bou. Another material that is great for smaller streamer tails is pine squirrel strips - not as bulky as bunny but great profile and movement.

I have moved to dubbing tails for quite a few of my buggers. one thing I do not like about marabou is how needle thing it gets, in rivers I think the current helps move the marabou better but in still waters it just goes down to a needle size behind the fly. when trolling I want something that stays it's profile when a large fish is following. when I take a bugger out of the water that is tied with marabou the tail is so thin it looks odd next to the body of a bugger. with longer dubbings and all the flash they can put in the dubbing they make great tails that somewhat keep there profile when wet.

Even when stripped back I don't think marabou actually fans back out with every strip! it just sticks to itself and stays that way when wet. dubbing tails keep the profile I want and move when stripped but fan back out at every strip - or at least are more prone to fan back out as they say marabou does.

Click to expand...

Have you tried tying in the marabou by the tip, rather than the butt? I find that tying in by the tip forces the fibers apart a little easier in stillwater. I like the difference in function enough that I usually tie half my buggers by the tips and the others by the butts. I even tie up another half with both techniques, just to bend the rules of math and find a compromise between the two. It's usually a little more wasteful or difficult to tie in by the tips, but I've found enough of a difference in the action to do it often and save the leftovers as dubbing.

Also, leeches tend to be thicker at the posterior than the anterior while in motion. Having a larger head than tail on a leech fly doesn't mimic the natural profile as much. Tying in by the tips allows for an easier capture of the "true" shape of a leech I think, and adds a variety of movement to the fly as it falls through the water column.

I can't take credit for this, of course. Zen leecher was the first to show me the tie in by the tips, and that sweet variety of bugger got me into a beautful 4 lb triploid about a month later.

Thanks for posting those, troutpocket. I'll have to eventually tie some of those...or something very similar. I can see there's no gittin' away from it!
Gary gave me a couple of wicked looking ones that I've been dying to try out.

I strip my marabou from the quill and get a good thick bunch together before I tie it in for a tail on my lake buggers, especially if I'm mixing colors. I try to avoid making it too thin by tying in as thick a bunch as I can fit on the hook without over-bulking it. On # 8 and #6 hooks, I'm using 3/0 mono cord so that I can really reef down on it and get it whipped in tight.
I seem to get good tail action with it, especially when its on a BH bugger tied on to my leader with a non-slip mono loop, a knot which usually allows for great jigging action, when head-weighted fly is stripped. I almost always use a non-slip mono loop with buggers and streamers.

Now all they need to do is feed the birds glitter so they grow the feather with flash in them like a lot of the dubbings have now. I hate putting flash in with marabou it just does not look natural to me. but that's just me with the sparkle dubbing nowadays it's as simple as winding the thread on the hook. I just do not like marabou in the first place

Great looking flies! I've been experimenting with level bugs too, and I like the jig hook idea. I'm curious what sort of bead you use for the head - are you using a slotted tungsten bead, or something else?

Great looking flies! I've been experimenting with level bugs too, and I like the jig hook idea. I'm curious what sort of bead you use for the head - are you using a slotted tungsten bead, or something else?